Review by: Ryan McCaffrey
Published: August 2, 2002

A number of analogies come to mind when discussing Blizzard Entertainment: They have the Midas touch, whereby every product they lay their hands on turns to gold. They are the New York Yankees of PC gaming, winning every time they take to the proverbial field with a new title. In taking an average of three years to complete a product, they represent the tortoise against the hare, proving that slow and steady wins the race. Blizzard’s latest offering is the real-time strategy sequel WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos. With it, the California developer finally enters the era of 3D graphics and maintains all of the aforementioned comparisons – the company’s latest release took over 36 months to reach the finish line and has already sold over a million copies in less than one month on store shelves. As top-selling budgetware titles have proven, however, seven figure sales do not necessarily equal a five star game. Is WarCraft III good enough to keep Blizzard’s winning streak alive?

Reign of Chaos begins as Blizzard’s armies of customers have come to expect – with a bang. The plot unfolds via Hollywood-quality pre-rendered cinematics, complete with letterbox presentation. Indeed, the opening film’s battle sequence immediately suggests a strong narrative was at the top of the development team’s list when they crafted WarCraft III. As the movie plays, a pack of orcs and a regiment of humans wage war in a grassy field, fueled solely by their hatred for each other. In the midst of the fight, a violent meteor shower crashes through Azeroth’s atmosphere, ushering the arrival of a new foe common to both of the dueling races: the otherworldly Burning Legion. With a new entry into the fray, the humans and the orcs prepare for a new conflict. While the pre-rendered cinematics only bookend the game and follow each campaign, myriad in-game cutscenes, rendered by Blizzard’s proprietary 3D engine, also advance the tale. They are used in abundance, being employed prior to every chapter of each campaign and serving to further the title’s storyline by reinforcing the player’s belief that his actions are affecting the outcome of the narrative.

The actual gameplay kicks off with players taking the reigns of the orc race for a brief tutorial on Reign of Chaos‘ play mechanics and incredibly approachable control scheme. The introductory campaign literally walks newcomers through every step of a quest, from how to build a unit, to grouping multiple units, to attacking and slaying enemies. As per the Blizzard norm, nearly everything is accomplished with the mouse, lowering the inherent intimidation factor of managing dozens of units down to a bearable minimum.

Once players are familiar with WarCraft III‘s fundamentals, the first of four primary campaigns begins. Playable races include, in the order they become available, the Human Alliance, the Undead Scourge, the Orcish Horde and the Night Elf Sentinels. In opting to start with the humans, Blizzard has chosen to ease players into Azeroth’s latest conflict with a familiar and balanced class. The Alliance, comprised of dwarves and elves in addition to the humans, offers battle-hardened dwarven marksmen, powerful elven spell casters and sturdy human warriors. They are all led into battle by a hero unit, the first for the humans being the patriotic, but foolish, Prince Arthas.